THE PARADE OF THE ANIMALS. Genesis 2:19-20.

Twice the Bible records the same miracle: all the animals line up in parade formation and march.  How many paintings are there in Sunday schools and doctors’ offices showing animals streaming toward the S.S. Noah, beasts of every shape and size, calmly moving in neat lines, more well-behaved than shoppers on Black Friday?

But that was the SECOND animal parade.  Remember the Garden of Eden? 

“The Lord God formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it…  The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal.  But for the man, no helper was found as his complement” Genesis 2:19-20.

Why would God create mates for everyone EXCEPT the man? 

Probably to emphasize the importance of a wife and teach us about the roles of a husband and a wife, and the power and precious-ness of a good marriage.

“So God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept.  God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord made the rib … into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said: ‘This one, AT LAST [Whew!] is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. [That’s MY PEOPLE!]  This one will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from man.’  This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become ONE FLESH” 2:21-24.

Why ‘One Flesh’?  Eve was made from Adam’s rib. She was literally part of his flesh. And when Sons of Adam have Biblical knowledge of the daughters of Eve, God makes those couples become one flesh as well. One flesh may not be so much about sex as it is about THE RIB.  And the matter is sacred to God.

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WHY THE ARK?Genesis 6:21; Isaiah 30:21.

Why did God tell Noah to build an ark? God could have just miraculously provided an ark. But He enjoys partnering with us! He gave Noah a job—spend decades building the biggest thing anyone has ever built.  Noah was responsible for the most amazing ZOO in history.

I noticed this verse:

“Take with you every kind of food that is eaten: gather it as food for you and for them” Genesis 6:21. 

Noah’s job just doubled in size!  Build an ark AND find food—for EVERY ANIMAL? When you see a plant, how do you know if some animal somewhere eats it?  Some have unique diets: Koalas eat ONLY eucalyptus leaves. How would Noah know—and where would he get the leaves? –God had to provide both knowledge and leaves; there was no other way. 

I’ve never been a zookeeper, but I know how much trouble it is to feed horses, dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, and goats (and that’s with long-lasting “kibble” already in bags).  What if you had a thousand more species?

Can you imagine giving a single, untrained zookeeper, with no refrigerator, the responsibility to procure and preserve food for every animal on earth—and get all of it into the ark?  The task is all-but impossible. 

Noah must have recognized that: he could only succeed by the power and wisdom of God.  God led him to every plant and berry and thornbush and hayfield. And how will cows, horses, and elephants eat, sleep, and do their business, for a full year onboard ship, and somehow still be clean and dry?  The chores must have never stopped.

The challenges multiply, the more you think about it (what about daily water for the animals?). 

(Good Bible reading means asking yourself every question you can possibly think of.) 

The challenges Noah faced were extraordinary. But God directed the project, start-to-finish.  And “Noah walked with God” Gen. 6:9. When we walk with God, He directs our steps. The greater the challenge, the louder God speaks:

“You will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘this is the way, walk in it’” Isaiah 30:21.

God, thank you for directing us! Help us to slow down and listen to you.

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DOES THE EVIL WORLD OVERWHELM YOU? Genesis 6:5-6

In Genesis, God looks at people and regrets creating us. Imagine being so bad God regrets you. Hard to imagine? But that’s all of us apart from His blood.

When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth, and that every scheme he thought of was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:5-6.

Wow. God wiped out everything—“Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord” v.8. Let’s be like Noah.

After the flood and the rainbow, God knew things would not just magically improve. Perhaps He had gotten rid of the worst of the evil. But God knew judgment would come again. Why? God knows that “man’s inclination is evil from His youth” Genesis 8:21. This is confirmed through the 65 books that follow, isn’t it? Isaiah says “all we like sheep have gone astray” 53:6. Romans says “all have sinned and fallen short” 3:23.

We sin. God knows it. We are steeped in sin, soaked in it.

And we suffer because of it. Our own sin probably hurts each of us the most, but the sins of others can also be devastating: assault, robbery, murder, war—there are evils so dark they can change your life in an instant.

What hope is there when you face a new year with its new hurts? First, check out this encouraging verse I discovered today:

“I will now rise up, says the Lord, I will put the one who longs for it in a safe place” Psalm 12:5.

If you long for safety—if you beg God for safety and protection—He promises to provide it.

Second, while reflecting on the new year, consider Psalm 65:10: “You crown the year with your goodness.” Amen. Isn’t that what we want for the year ahead?

Dear God, thank you for your mercy! That you know we are steeped in sin, but you are patient and merciful and forgiving. Thank you that you understand, that You are “mindful that we are but dust.” ΑΩ

Don’t Doubt in the Darkness What God Told You in the Light. Genesis 3

When you hear of a terrible, unspeakable tragedy such as a young man I’ll call Tommy who took his own life suddenly and without warning, it should remind you that we have an enemy. YOU have an enemy. And you may wonder, ‘Who am I? Why would he care about me? I’m no missionary,’ or whatever. But Satan knows things we do not know. He knows what God plans to do through you. He may look at you and see a harvest of souls that will come because of you. So he plans to neutralize you. To steal, kill, and destroy you and your witness. How?

Lies. He will begin by whispering lies into your thoughts as he must have done to Tommy.

Read Genesis chapter 3. Here’s how he did it with Eve–and this is how he will do it to you:

1. First, he will make you question God’s Word–all of us have been attacked this way. He says to you: “Did God really say that? But does He really mean that? Does that still apply today?

2. Second, the enemy takes advantage of our ignorance. When he asked Eve about the tree, she stated the rule incorrectly. She was sloppy and unprepared for spiritual battle. She only needed to know one rule, but she got it wrong. (Do we know the Word? Are you ready to handle hard questions?)

3. Third, the serpent told her God was being selfish, that he was holding out on her, trying to steal her joy. “No, you shall not die! For God knows that when you eat the fruit you will become like Him…” All of us have heard that voice–those voices are everywhere today, TV, books, movies, Twitter–people everywhere are constantly questioning God and cynically accusing Him of trying to keep people from having fun.

But God loves you and wants the very best for you. He wants you to live a life of joy and hope and fulfillment and fun. But that comes by walking with Him, loving Him, and knowing His word so well that you can withstand an attack from the enemy. When your thoughts and the voices in your head make you doubt God or doubt His word, choose faith. Don’t doubt in the darkness of hard times the truth that God showed you in the light.

HE LOVES YOU. Don’t doubt Him. Give His Word the benefit of the doubt.

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THE COMPLEMENT AT THE CENTER OF CREATION. Genesis 2:18-23.

Genesis 1 is a symphony—beginning quietly, a single oboe smoking out a note, clarinets join, more wind instruments, some strings, cello and bass, violins, a bit of percussion.  The organ creates a pavement of sound, a foundation for a massive edifice, and the whole thing swirls and swells growing louder, faster, over 100 instruments now, rich harmonies and brassy horns flying above all, the whole thing building to a crescendo, an overwhelming finale to bring down the house. 

And what is that finale? It is us.

“In the image of God He created him.  God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth….’  God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:27-28,31.

The whole world shows God’s lavish, loving, enthusiastic creation: mountains, trees, flocks, herds, rivers, waterfalls, oceans, snow and ice—it is amazing, and we are seeing it AFTER the fall, AFTER sin changed everything.

And what is at the center of creation? A marriage. The GRAND FINALE of the symphony of Creation Week is the marriage of Adam and Eve.  In the beginning, Adam was alone. But God did not forget him. It was not an oversight, but an opportunity for emphasis:

“‘It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper as his COMPLEMENT….’  The man gave names to all the livestock, the birds, the wild animals, but for the man no helper was found as his COMPLEMENT” 2:18,20. So God fashioned Eve from a rib.  “And the man said, ‘This one is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called ‘woman’ because she was taken from man’” 2:23.

(Note the spelling. This is not the I-like-your-dress kind of compliment. This is “You complete me.” That is another kind of complement altogether.)

COMPLEMENT—adj., something that fills up, completes or makes better or perfect (Webster’s).

A good spouse completes you, fills you up, makes you better, perfects you. 

May God bless us with godly spouses who make us better every day!  And may we be grateful every day for this amazing life among His creation!

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